1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a cash box comprising a receiving area for receiving notes of value, an invalidating unit for irreversibly invalidating the notes of value arranged in the receiving area, a sensor unit having at least one sensor for detecting manipulation attempts and a control unit. In an activated operating state, the control unit triggers the invalidating unit when the sensor unit detects a manipulation attempt. In a deactivated operating state, on the other hand, the control unit does not trigger the invalidating unit in the presence of a manipulation attempt.
2. Description of the Related Art
A widely used method for securing notes of value received in cash boxes is to install in the cash box an invalidating unit, in particular a so-called ink kit, with which the notes of value can be invalidated in the case of manipulation attempts. In this way, the cash box is protected in particular when it is in an insecure environment, such as during the transport between a cash center and the automated teller machine, the automatic cash register system and/or the automatic cash safe into which it is to be inserted. When the ink kit is triggered, the notes of value received in the receiving area of the cash box are irreversibly inked with dye so that they cannot be put in circulation by a potential thief and are thus worthless for him/her.
The cash boxes are equipped with a plurality of sensors by means of which the presence of a manipulation attempt, i.e. the presence of an unauthorized access to the notes of value, shall be detected. If at least one of these sensors detects such a manipulation attempt, then the ink kit is triggered and the received notes of value are invalidated. By triggering the ink kit considerable damage occurs since not only the notes of value themselves are invalidated but also the cash box and possibly the surroundings in which the cash box is located when triggered are contaminated by the dye that is not easy to remove. Thus, it is particularly annoying when the ink kit is triggered although no manipulation attempt is present at all, for example because the cash box has been handled improperly by people handling the cash box or one of the manipulation sensors is defective and thus indicates a manipulation attempt although actually there is none.
From each of EP 2 463 831 A2 and DE 10 2010 004 669 A1 a cash box is known, in which a plurality of sensors for detecting manipulation attempts of the cash box are provided. When one of these sensors detects a manipulation attempt, an ink kit is triggered provided that the cash box is in an activated operating state.
DE 10 2008 035 815 A1 describes a cash box comprising a sensor via which an unauthorized opening of the cash output opening of the cash box can be detected.
From the non-prepublished German Patent Application 10 2011 035 443.1, a cash box is known that comprises a plurality of sensors for detecting manipulation attempts. Further, the cash box has a display via which individual operating states of the cash box can be displayed.
It is the object of the invention to specify a cash box and a method for activating a cash box, in which the risk of an unnecessary triggering of an invalidating unit of the cash box is minimized.